Meal kit delivery services see rising seafood demand

Subscription meal kit delivery services helped push more seafood onto the plates of US consumers, and as this niche market evolves it is nudging traditional retailers to change as well.

Last year, a Harris Poll showed two-thirds of people who actively buy meal kits say they eat seafood more often when purchasing meal kits. This trend seems to be growing as meal kit services are seeing more demand for seafood options among their consumers.

Takeout Kit CEO and Founder Rachael Lake said her company is looking to expand to more seafood options, but is limited by the number of shelf-stable proteins because Takeout Kit does not offer fresh seafood in its meal kits.

"With seafood being one of the healthy, lean proteins, I've definitely had customers ask for more pescatarian-focused meals as well as more Mediterranean diets, which often include seafood," she told IntraFish.

The company currently uses Shirakiku canned snow crab from Japan and has two seafood-focused meal kits. She said the company is considering items such as shelf-stable salmon pouches and salmon jerky.

Another meal delivery service, Home Chef, has benefited from an industry that has reached $5 billion (€4.17 billion) in sales, according to a Packaged Facts research report last year.

Of the 12 menu options the company offers, Home Chef aims to ensure two are seafood options, such as cod, salmon, tilapia and shrimp. Public Relations Director Susan Oguche said they expect consumers to opt for fish over other proteins as the Lenten season approaches.

Home Chef went from selling 70,000 meals per month, when it started more than four years ago, to 2.5 million meals per month.

"We expect this to be another great year and we want to show that meal kit companies can sustain profitability," Oguche told IntraFish.

HelloFresh, a major meal delivery site, also vouches for the growing potential of seafood among its consumers.

PanaPesca USA rolls out 'PanaReady' meal kits

"Demand for seafood is strong and stable," said HelloFresh US Director of Procurement Tom Ramhorst. "People generally struggle with cooking fish at home as they don’t always know the best ways to prepare it. That's why our recipes perform so well -- they're easy to follow, delicious and introduce customers to new flavors and techniques they may have not otherwise tried."

HelloFresh partners with Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch and sources seafood rated "best choice" or "good alternative," both farmed and wild. The companyhas featured wild Alaska and farmed European salmon and wild US shrimp.

"We see continued growth for lean proteins and healthy fats," he said. "At the same time, not everyone loves fish. Demand should continue to be strong especially for sustainable species which make cooking seafood approachable."

Ramhorst told IntraFish the company and the sector grew tremendously the last year.

"There’s heightened awareness as meal kits have worked their way into the mainstream. In the US, our active customer base grew by more than 91 percent from Q3 2016 to Q3 2017."

Despite this growth among subscription meal kit delivery services, one analyst feels the quick success saturated the market with too many companies and the sector will need to evolve as competition ramps up from retailers.

"The meal kit market is looking reminiscent of the dot-com boom of the '90s, where there were a lot of little players looking for market share," said NPD Executive Director and Food Consumption Industry Analyst Darren Seifer.

He said that dot-com market evolved through mergers and acquisitions leaving only a few big players, such as Amazon. He said he previously forecasted this for the meal kit market and some predictions already came to fruition.

Last year, US retailer Albertsons acquired meal kit service Plated and last month, Walmart started selling meal kits from Takeout Kit and Home Chef.

"I think we're going to see more cooperation between meal kits and retailers and more retailers starting their own meal kits," he told IntraFish.

"I think subscription delivery services will still exist going forward, but the form they take will change over the years with more partnerships with retailers."

Seifer gave the example of Peapod, the delivery wing of Ahold, which is not completely independent but the two found efficiencies in working together.

Whole Foods a big win for upstart frozen food brand

Seifer feels one of the larger challenges for these delivery services is keeping customers and justifying price points.

"While people are trying them, one of the problems is retention. The biggest way people get into the fold is through a coupon or deal. Of the peole who stopped using meal kits, over half said it was too expensive. There's a value proposition that these companies are not getting across to consumers."

These services save consumers time getting to the store, time spent shopping, correct portion sizes and so on.

"Also these services are already getting high marks on quality for their ingredients and packaging, so that's not the problem either. They need to prove the value that exists in these services."

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Meal kit delivery services see rising seafood demand

Subscription meal kit delivery services helped push more seafood onto the plates of US consumers, and as this niche market evolves it is nudging traditional retailers to change as well.

Last year, a Harris Poll showed two-thirds of people who actively buy meal kits say they eat seafood more often when purchasing meal kits. This trend seems to be growing as meal kit services are seeing more demand for seafood options among their consumers.

Takeout Kit CEO and Founder Rachael Lake said her company is looking to expand to more seafood options, but is limited by the number of shelf-stable proteins because Takeout Kit does not offer fresh seafood in its meal kits.

"With seafood being one of the healthy, lean proteins, I've definitely had customers ask for more pescatarian-focused meals as well as more Mediterranean diets, which often include seafood," she told IntraFish.

The company currently uses Shirakiku canned snow crab from Japan and has two seafood-focused meal kits. She said the company is considering items such as shelf-stable salmon pouches and salmon jerky.

Another meal delivery service, Home Chef, has benefited from an industry that has reached $5 billion (€4.17 billion) in sales, according to a Packaged Facts research report last year.

Of the 12 menu options the company offers, Home Chef aims to ensure two are seafood options, such as cod, salmon, tilapia and shrimp. Public Relations Director Susan Oguche said they expect consumers to opt for fish over other proteins as the Lenten season approaches.

Home Chef went from selling 70,000 meals per month, when it started more than four years ago, to 2.5 million meals per month.

"We expect this to be another great year and we want to show that meal kit companies can sustain profitability," Oguche told IntraFish.

HelloFresh, a major meal delivery site, also vouches for the growing potential of seafood among its consumers.

PanaPesca USA rolls out 'PanaReady' meal kits

"Demand for seafood is strong and stable," said HelloFresh US Director of Procurement Tom Ramhorst. "People generally struggle with cooking fish at home as they don’t always know the best ways to prepare it. That's why our recipes perform so well -- they're easy to follow, delicious and introduce customers to new flavors and techniques they may have not otherwise tried."

HelloFresh partners with Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch and sources seafood rated "best choice" or "good alternative," both farmed and wild. The companyhas featured wild Alaska and farmed European salmon and wild US shrimp.

"We see continued growth for lean proteins and healthy fats," he said. "At the same time, not everyone loves fish. Demand should continue to be strong especially for sustainable species which make cooking seafood approachable."

Ramhorst told IntraFish the company and the sector grew tremendously the last year.

"There’s heightened awareness as meal kits have worked their way into the mainstream. In the US, our active customer base grew by more than 91 percent from Q3 2016 to Q3 2017."

Despite this growth among subscription meal kit delivery services, one analyst feels the quick success saturated the market with too many companies and the sector will need to evolve as competition ramps up from retailers.

"The meal kit market is looking reminiscent of the dot-com boom of the '90s, where there were a lot of little players looking for market share," said NPD Executive Director and Food Consumption Industry Analyst Darren Seifer.

He said that dot-com market evolved through mergers and acquisitions leaving only a few big players, such as Amazon. He said he previously forecasted this for the meal kit market and some predictions already came to fruition.

Last year, US retailer Albertsons acquired meal kit service Plated and last month, Walmart started selling meal kits from Takeout Kit and Home Chef.

"I think we're going to see more cooperation between meal kits and retailers and more retailers starting their own meal kits," he told IntraFish.

"I think subscription delivery services will still exist going forward, but the form they take will change over the years with more partnerships with retailers."

Seifer gave the example of Peapod, the delivery wing of Ahold, which is not completely independent but the two found efficiencies in working together.

Whole Foods a big win for upstart frozen food brand

Seifer feels one of the larger challenges for these delivery services is keeping customers and justifying price points.

"While people are trying them, one of the problems is retention. The biggest way people get into the fold is through a coupon or deal. Of the peole who stopped using meal kits, over half said it was too expensive. There's a value proposition that these companies are not getting across to consumers."

These services save consumers time getting to the store, time spent shopping, correct portion sizes and so on.

"Also these services are already getting high marks on quality for their ingredients and packaging, so that's not the problem either. They need to prove the value that exists in these services."